Further reconnaissance drilling is planned to explore
the three kilometres still untested.
GHANA
In Ghana, work continued on generating new regional
targets. As a result, three new permits have been
granted, totalling 6 954km
2
and an
agreement has been
concluded with a Ghanaian company, on a 92km
2
permit
located within the Yamfo Sefwi volcano-sedimentary
belt, along strike from Newmont’s Ahafo project.
TANZANIA
The company’s big exploration success story in 2005
was Tanzania, where it has achieved the consolidation
of its holdings across the Musoma Greenstone Belt and
concluded the Tangold agreement, a joint venture with
the government of Tanzania to develop new mineral
deposits covering a 2 692km
2
area of
interest in the
Kiabakari Maji-Moto region. Included in the agreement
are the Buhemba South and Kiabakari prospecting
licences. The latter incorporates the old Kiabakari
mine and adds an advanced project to the company’s
portfolio.
The Kiabakari deposit was first discovered in 1893 and
until the 1950s mining was limited to a few small open
pits. During the 1950s underground mining was
performed from a shaft developed to the 15th level
(1 500 ft) and mined to the 10th level. Mining continued
until August 1966 by which time approximately 300 000
ounces had been extracted at 6g/t and this ranked
Kiabakari as the third largest gold producer in Tanzania.
On closure of the mine the mill and headgear were
dismantled leaving only the buildings, later turned into
a military base which remains to this day.
A reconnaissance diamond drill programme was
completed on the Nyabigena South and Mobrama East
licenses in the Mara region, to test the extensions of
mineralised structures hosting the North Mara mines.
No broad zones of deformation, alteration or mineral-
isation were intersected during this drilling resulting in
these targets not meeting the company’s criteria.
Two targets remain to be tested on the Nyabigena
South permit:
Barata mine, four kilometres along strike from Mughusi
along the same major 110 trending regional shear.
There is a 75 vertical metre shaft where two levels were
developed along a 200 metre strike. 10 000 ounces of
gold at 18g/t were produced prior to the mine being
abandoned due to flooding.
Nyakuba locates in the south of the permit on the Mara
shear which hosts the Nyabirama mine and the new
Komarera (plus 100 000 ounce) deposit of Placer, plus
two old colonial mines (Mara and Pontana). Two trenches
had previously been excavated returning 6 metres at
2.3g/t and 6 metres at 1.2g/t associated with deformed
and altered granodiorite. However no further work was
completed by Randgold Resources as the structure is
covered by thick Mbuga clays along strike from the
trenches. Two lines of RAB are planned to test the strike
extent.
In the Musoma region previous workers have focused
on former colonial mines and known gold showings
which outcrop at surface; these were also the initial
focus of Randgold Resources and in the majority of
cases they were confirmed to be narrow and tight
systems, aside from the old Kiabakari mine. However,
surface regolith cover is complex over large surface
areas of the licenses with transported laterites, stripped
profiles, recent lake sediments and volcanic ash which
all impact on surface exploration. With this in mind, the
company took a new approach where conventional
exploration techniques proved to be ineffective. A
detailed target generation study was executed
incorporating interpretations of airborne geophysical
surveys and Landsat 7 scenes together with the
integration of soil geochemistry, geology and regolith
mapping data. This study resulted in the identification
of prospective structural corridors below complex
transported regolith profiles on the Kiabakari East,
Nyasirori, Nyati, Buhemba South, Mrangi and Seka
licenses which have been tested with a 289 hole
9 541 metre aircore drilling programme. The results of
which are driving follow-up work.
28 Annual
Report 2005 Randgold Resources
